


Forty Winks

by MyMisguidedFairytale



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Author's Favorite, Canon Compliant, F/M, Libraries, Love/Hate, One Shot, Pre-Canon, Sharing Clothes, Tension, Watching Someone Sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 19:52:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18763081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyMisguidedFairytale/pseuds/MyMisguidedFairytale
Summary: When she woke up, there was no mistaking whose jacket was draped over her shoulders.





	Forty Winks

**Author's Note:**

> _Forty Winks_ was originally written and published on July 06, 2014 on [tumblr](https://cheadle-yorkshire.tumblr.com/post/90978986292/fanfiction-hunter-x-hunter-forty-winks).
> 
> Everything below is preserved as it was originally posted:
> 
> **Title** : Forty Winks  
>  **Pairing** : Cheadle x Pariston  
>  **Word Count** : 865  
>  **Summary** : When she woke up, there was no mistaking whose jacket was draped over her shoulders.  
>  **A/N** : Takes place vaguely before the Chimera Ant arc.

_**Forty Winks** _

The Hunter Association headquarters kept an archive room stocked full of maps, books, and the necessary computer equipment to store nearly every bit of information a Hunter could ever want, in physical or digital form. Cheadle found it a peaceful place to do research, or to relax when she had some down time between meetings or assignments.

The place also had the most comfortable chairs in the entire building, and Cheadle settled into an oversized armchair with a book and began to read. It was late in the afternoon, and after some time she yawned into one hand. Shifting slightly, she tucked her feet into the edge of the cushion and adjusted the decorative pillow so it was behind her neck instead of at her lower back. Returning to the book, she yawned again a few pages later. The room was so warm and the chair was so comfortable, and Cheadle decided there was no harm in closing her eyes for a few moments…

She awoke to the last rays of dying sunlight slicing across the room. Blinking, her eyes adjusted to the harsh brightness of the sunlight filling the wide window to her right and the deeper shadows in the room beyond the first few rows of bookcases. Her glasses had slipped down her nose, and even though she had to squint to make out the figure standing before a desk a few yards away from her, there was no mistaking whose jacket was draped over her shoulders.

The sleeves of Pariston’s white dress shirt were rolled up to the elbow. It was rare to see him like this, with his guard down, and she took the opportunity to study him unobtrusively from a distance, the way he so liked to do to others.

He hadn’t turned on any of the overhead lights, and was working instead from a table lamp splashing light on his cluttered work station. He was leaning over one of the larger reference books—an encyclopedia, maybe, or an illustrated treatise on plants or animals?—and making notations in the margins. He seemed to be muttering something under his breath, punctuating each turn of the page with a sigh or a pause while he scratched at the back of his neck.

So Cheadle turned her attention to the jacket next—it was heavy and of good quality, made of wool and patterned in plaid. Quietly, she slipped one hand into one of the interior pockets. She came away empty, and her searches of the two exterior pockets revealed nothing as well. The size of the jacket didn’t swamp her, like she would have expected. Rather, it seemed to be very well tailored, and as her eyes traveled along one plaid stripe running from shoulder to shoulder she looked back up at Pariston, mapping the lines of his body the same way he mapped the pages before him with his pencils and his fingertips.

His shoulders were bonier than she expected, creating all harsh angles from his elbows and wrists. And with the sunlight catching on his hair and face like that, he looked every bit as innocent as he was beautiful. But then he turned to look at her, and the initial softness of his expression shifted into something much more careful.

Cheadle stiffened, suddenly uneasy, closing her eyes a moment too late; she knew she was doing a terrible job of looking like she’d just woken up, but she kept up the act with conviction.

“You’re awake, I see.” He paused in his work, closing the book on the desk and making his way slowly towards her. As Cheadle sat up straighter, the jacket fell from her shoulders. She held it by its edges in her hands for lack of anything better to do with it.

“Thanks for…this. Rat.” Thanking him for the use of the jacket felt wrong, the same wrongness in the way his eyes gleamed in the dull light when he studied the effect of his colors on her. Wanting the jacket out of her hands, she stood and held it out to him.

Cheadle had been hopeful she could see exactly what book was important enough to claim his attention, but as she stepped closer Pariston turned to block her view of the desk with his body. He took the jacket directly from her hands. Their fingers brushed for a second longer than necessary, and Cheadle scowled at him out of habit. His mouth stretched into a wide, indulgent grin, and when he spoke, he sounded like the very definition of sincerity.

“Anytime.”

She shivered. He had turned away, in the process of folding his suit jacket over one arm, but one glance told her he had noticed. He looked far too pleased about it.

The jacket had also smelled very strongly of whatever cologne Pariston favored. And when she handed it back to him, the scent did not leave with it. It was something heavy and woody and even though she left him alone in that room, no matter where she went it still smelled like he was standing right beside her.

Cheadle had a headache for the rest of the day.

**Author's Note:**

> 1) Thank you for reading! I would appreciate and value your comments.


End file.
